The F Word – Fanfiction

Date: May 19, 2013

Author: margaritagakis

Ah yes, the ‘other’ F-word – FANFICTION.

Yes, I write fanfic. No, I won’t tell you my fandom name 😉 [Although I knew a person on fandom that could figure out who people were based on their word usage and writing style – truly an amazing talent!]

I’ve been debating this long and hard over the last couple of days and I really struggled with what to say/do about my fanfic. I’m really proud of the stories I’ve written – some more than others but I think that’s pretty routine for most authors. Fanfic got me interested in writing again at a time where I had just… lost the joy of it. I started dreading writing and that had NEVER happened to me before. And fanfic really helped me get over that.

I started writing fanfic when I was in highschool, but I didn’t know that’s what it was at the time. it wasn’t until 2009 when I joined LiveJournal that I realized what I’d been doing and that I had this…. epiphany that THERE WERE OTHER PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT LIKED TO DO THE SAME THING.

I’ve had SUCH fun writing fanfic! It’s like playing with someone else’s dressup box. I’m WELL AWARE that there are authors out there that turn their nose down on it or disparage it but I’ve got to be honest – some of the BEST writing I’ve EVER READ has been fanfic. There’s so much HEART in so many of the stories. People really do write for the love of the characters, for the love of the story and even when that writing is rough or raw, it can be gorgeous simply because of the emotion behind it.

My own fanfic taught me a lot about characterization, pacing and what people responded to. I was surprised at times when a story I considered to be ho-hum would be noted as a favorite by readers. Similarly, I was equally surprised when I story I LOVED and thought was some of my best work was received with lackluster response.

At any rate, it made me THINK a lot about my writing. It gave me the chance to experiment. Also, reading some of the works out there really helped me LEARN.

And! Let me just put this out there – if anyone ever reads my Covencraft series and is inspired to write fanfic on it:

I may eventually release my fandom name but for now, you’ll have to see if you can find me! I’m still out there and I’m still writing.